5 needles removed from teen’s stomach

Dilip underwent a three-hour long surgery on September 7 and is consulting a psychiatrist. He is expected to be discharged on Saturday.

Dr L Anand, professor of gastrointestinal and liver surgery department in GRH said that the youth was in intense pain when he was brought to the hospital.

“We immediately took an X ray and found five needles in his stomach. We then did an endoscopy to identify where the metal objects were and found three in the stomach but could not locate the rest.”

After a CT scan, the doctors found one of the needles inside the liver and the other between the folds of the intestines. “He had swallowed the needles over six months and they slowly started moving towards the liver and intestines,” Dr Anand added.

The procedure, which took over three hours, included a laparoscopy to identify exactly where the needle was in the liver. “We retrieved the needle without causing any complications and moved on to the stomach and intestines. We cut a hole into the stomach and removed the remaining,” the doctor said.

Dilip has been undergoing psychiatric treatment after the surgery. “He had a behavioural disorder and he was given medicines for it. The psychiatrists assured him that if he takes the medicines properly he will recover from it soon,” said Dr Anand Pratap, RMO, GRH.